Kent won both of his matches on Thursday to open the Games. Kent defeated Marco Makkar of the United States 3-1 (11-7, 9-11, 14-12, 13-11) and Alejandro Perez of Argentina 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 12-10, 11-9).

Kent advanced to Saturday’s quarter-finals.

“The match for me was less stressful than the first two and that’s good heading in now to the quarter-finals,” said Kent.

“I double-medalled at the last three (Parapan American Games) and that means nothing. What matters is what happens here. And you have to live in the moment here. The past is history and so I look forward to making my mark at these Games one match at a time.”

The 58-year-old admitted to fighting his nerves in Thursday’s opening match.

“I was a little more nervous than I would have liked for some reason, and I think that showed,” said Kent. “However, I think I served well. I gained a lot of advantage on service and I stuck to the task at hand. I didn’t deviate from the match plan. Sometimes first matches are like that, but I got the result.”

Kent’s medal cabinet contains a silver in team and a bronze in singles play from the 2015 Games in Toronto. In 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico, he won a gold in singles and silver in doubles and captured a pair of silvers in singles and team in his first appearance in 2007 at the Rio de Janeiro Games.

Kent was diagnosed with dystonia, a movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures in 1999 at the age of 38. He was bed-ridden for nearly two years before the cause was diagnosed.

Teammate Curtis Caron of Dartmouth has a 1-2 record in men’s singles Class 8.

“It’s really good to get the first match over with,” said Caron. “There are some nerves that go into competing, especially at a multisport event like this. I felt pretty comfortable on the table. I knew what to expect. I lost the match, but I got better as the games went on and overall I am happy with my performance.”

Caron was a member of the Canadian team that won silver in 2015 in Toronto.